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 The Referee Corner: 

Law 9: The Ball In and Out of Play and Heading by U11 and below: 

Ask yourself the question: have you ever shouted at an Assistant Referee because they said the ball was not out and you thought it was? What direction do the Laws of the Game give to the Assistant Referee when the Ball is out of play? That is our topic for this month’s Referee Corner.

Law 9 says the following:

• The ball is out of play when:
• It has wholly passed over the goal line or touch line either on the ground or in the air
• The Referee (they blow their whistle) has stopped play

This means that the whole of the ball went over the line. If part of the ball (even a little bit) is on the line the ball is in play. This is different than football or basketball. In those sports a ball or foot on the line is considered out of play. In soccer this is not the case. The Assistant Referees are on the touch line and are coached to follow the ball all the way to the goal line. This means they have the best line of sight to make this decision. Interesting when fans at midfield challenge the call of the Assistant Referee at the Goal line.  

The Referee stopping play is less controversial. The Referee stops play by blowing the whistle. The ball is considered out of play immediately on the whistle. If there is a foul and the Referee blows the whistle and the ball continues into the goal, is it a goal? According to the Laws of the Game it is not. Every Referee has at least one story about blowing the whistle while the ball was trickling into the goal. NOT A GOAL.

• The ball is in play at all other times, including when it rebounds from a match official, goalpost, crossbar, or corner flag and remains on the field of play.

This, of course, means that the match official must be on the field.  

Law 9 is an easier Law to understand. Part 2 of this month’s article builds on Law 9. It has to do with “when does the Referee blow his/her whistle?.” Referees are required to blow the whistle to start and stop play.  

• Starting play could be at the beginning of a match (the kickoff), after a substitution, or when there has been a foul and the Referee is setting the wall.
• Stopping play means that a foul or infraction has taken place. It is also used by the Referee to stop play for any another reason not specified in the Laws of the Game. This includes injuries, outside interference, and in the United States deliberate heading at specified age groups.

Is heading illegal in the Laws of the Game? The answer is NO. However, U.S. Soccer has determined that for safety reasons heading will not be allowed in U11 and below matches. Their directive is that deliberate heading will result in the match being stopped (the Referee blowing the whistle) and that the restart will be an Indirect Free Kick against the team doing the deliberate heading at the spot where the heading took place.

This directive has created some confusion. Let’s look at some examples to determine the correct restart:

1.      A player gets hit in the head by the ball in the run of play. The Referee blows the whistle to stop play. The coach is called on to attend to the player. 

a.      Was it a foul? NO 

b.      Was it a deliberate head ball? NO

c.      Was it for a player down (injury)? Yes, so the restart would be a dropped ball

2.      The attacking team sends a pass in the air into the penalty area towards one of their forwards. The forward heads the ball towards the goal and it goes in. 

a.      Since the forward DELIBERATELY headed the ball, the Referee should blow the whistle and disallow the goal. The restart would be an Indirect Free Kick coming out.

3.      The attacking team sends a pass in the air into the penalty area. In this situation a defender DELIBERATELY heads the ball to end the attack.

a.      Since the defender DELIBERATELY headed the ball, the Referee should blow the whistle and the restart would be an Indirect Free Kick going in. The spot would be where the heading occurred unless it was in the goal area (6-yard box which would result in the ball being placed on the 6-yard box line).

b.      If the ball went into the goal, the goal should be allowed.

As I said, there are many decisions a Referee team must make in the run of play. These decisions are based on the Laws of the Game or USSF directives. They are not always easy to make, but when you look at the decisions you can see they are consistent and support the letter and spirit of the Law.

Please support our new Referees. It is win/win for you and for the League.

The Referee Blog

A September Update from the pitch….

So how is the season going so far? Last weekend there were league games, a full complement of U5-U9 activities and a tournament. The complexes were busy and yes, it was evident that soccer is growing in Kansas City.

The extreme heat was gone, but there were delays for thunderstorms and lightning. When the storms moved out, the players and fans and officials moved back onto the pitch to participate in the “beautiful” game. Yes, we are keeping score now, but everyone who played had a winning experience.

Kansas has certified over 300 new referees since our clinics kicked off in August. Many of our Referees have progressed to be assigned as the Center Referee this fall. I want you to think about what this means to the development of the Referee as a person and the importance of this to growing our game.  



What have we seen so far in this new season?

• Well coached teams that maintained ball possession, played to space, passed to create scoring opportunities, and finished with skill. At the other end of the field we witnessed strong defenders challenging for the ball, winning the ball and showing extreme confidence in playing the ball out of the back. There were a number of fantastic saves by goalkeepers. In one match, the goalkeeper made three saves in a row to deny the other team a goal. In another match, the goalkeeper tried to save the ball but the attacker made a pass to an open teammate. The teammate shot on goal, but was denied as a defender saved the ball off of the line with a sliding move. There was some very memorable play at all age groups.  
• Passionate fans cheering their teams on to success. I am always impressed when the fans are cheering the play of the opponents because they recognize effort and results even when the great play prevents their team from scoring. Of course, the cheers are even louder when their team does score a goal.
• A full officiating team (Center and two Assistant Referees) working matches. With the national shortage of officials, it is rewarding to see Heartland being able to staff a very high percentage of your matches. When I look at the Referees, I see a number of very young people willing to take the whistle and the flags to allow your matches to be played. Some of these officials are experienced and some are just starting. Let me share some of their experiences with you.
• The Referee was doing their first ever center in a 7 v 7 match on a Friday night. They were nervous. There was so much for them to remember – subs, fouls, restarts, offside, positioning, blowing the whistle, etc. The center told me that their concern was making a mistake and then getting yelled at by the coaches and the fans. At halftime, this Referee took a deep breath, said it was harder than they thought it would be, asked what they could do better and then went out for the second half. Yes, the second half was better than the first half. After the game, one of the coaches voiced some concerns over some of the decisions made by this new Referee, but did so in a way that did not destroy their confidence going forward.

The next day, Saturday, this young Referee had more assignments with the whistle. Wouldn’t you know that one of the first matches was with the coach that voiced concerns the night before (the soccer gods can be fickle). Did the experience of the Friday night assignments make a difference? This coach thought so because he told the young Referee that they did a much better job this time. Experience is the best teacher.

• Another Referee, this one in their second year of officiating, had a very competitive (9 v 9) match assignment. I heard the fans voicing their displeasure at this Referee’s performance at the end of the first half (score was 5-4). When I talked to the Referee at halftime, there were tears in their eyes because of the sideline comments (from both sides – fans and the coaches). What could we do for the Referee and for the game?  

The only option was to encourage the Referee to shake off the comments from the sidelines and to challenge them to work even harder in the second half. And, this is what they did. Instead of worrying about how the sidelines would react, the Referee worked harder to be closer to play. When they had to make a decision on contact they did so based on their knowledge of the Laws of the Game and what they saw. This Referee addressed adversity by working harder. I am happy to report that the game ended without further incident and this Referee grew in both skill and confidence and told me they would be back again next week. Experience is the best teacher.

• The final example comes from a Referee in their third year (certified during the pandemic). This young Referee was assigned to the final of a 9 v 9 match in this past weekends tournament. When I drove by the field I was impressed with their movement and especially with their decision making in a very skilled match (Gold Division). The players were playing with a high level of intensity. Attackers had the skills to dribble and pass to open teammates. Defenders made strong challenges to win the ball. Soccer is a contact game, and this Referee understood the difference between fair play and fouls and was consistent in their decision making.

After the match one of the parents walked by the officiating crew and said the following, “good match. You were a 10 out of 10!”. Experience is a great teacher.

The demand for good Referees is always high. The rewards for making correct decisions are great. Referees don’t start out as experienced. However, with the cooperation of the players, coaches, fans and the mentors, they will have the opportunity to get the experience that will help them grow like the examples shared here. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we all work together to develop the experienced and skilled Referees that will allow us to GROW THE GAME.  



As always, we would welcome seeing you in a Referee class to get certified so that you can help the game to grow and be the best it can be at Heartland. Go to our web site Kansasreferee and sign up for a Referee clinic .